One of the most valuable assets for any business is its data. Like any business, small businesses are susceptible to cyberattacks.

Safeguarding your company’s data is not just about avoiding financial loss—it’s about protecting customer and employee information, maintaining public trust, following government regulations, and keeping your business running with as little disruption as possible.

But one data breach can lead to potentially catastrophic financial penalties, ruin your company’s reputation and disrupt operations.

With small businesses often seen as an easy target for cyberattacks, it’s no wonder business owners have a touch of anxiety when it comes to understanding how to protect data—from banking and payment processing to email and customer databases. In fact, 44 percent of small businesses have experienced a cyberattack, according to computer security software company McAfee.

And, according to Forbes, 41% of small businesses don’t have systems in place for data backup and recovery.

“Everybody is a target for cyberattacks—and that includes individuals and small businesses,” said Jamie Neumaier, corporate information security officer at Erie Insurance. “One reason small- and medium-sized businesses are frequently targeted is because they don’t have the same technology as a large corporation. Not only does this make them an easier target, but attacks on small businesses often go unnoticed by the public because they aren’t heavily publicized.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom. A little bit of preparation and knowledge can go a long way in protecting your business from cyber criminals.

A data breach is not something that just happens to mega retailers – small businesses are also at risk. From customers’ credit card numbers to employee tax information, it’s likely that your small business handles sensitive data on a regular basis.

All it takes is one convincing phishing email or a stolen laptop for that sensitive data to get into the wrong hands. And having the right business coverage with cyber protection is just one of many defense tools to have at your disposal.

Data Breaches: What Small Business Owners Should Know

1. They affect any business, large or small: In 2023, the Identity Theft Resource Center found a 73% increase in cybersecurity incidents involving small businesses. Larger businesses might have the money and resources to help them recover, but smaller companies face greater challenges in the recovery process.
2. They’re costly.  If several records are compromised, you could easily be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. These expenses can include legal fees, costs to upgrade or replace your POS system (depending on the source of the breach) or even a forensic examination. Some of the more serious small business data breaches have led businesses to close. For those that do stay open, it can be costly to repair the damage to their reputation and restore customers’ trust.
3. They have multiple causes.  Small businesses can experience a data breach in a number of different ways. Whether it’s a misplaced computer, an improperly shredded document, a hacked database or a variety of social engineering fraud techniques like phishing, business data can easily become exposed.
4. They can take a while to detect. The complexity of today’s technology combined with the sophistication of many hackers can make a data breach fly under the radar for weeks or even months. It can be hard for a small business, lacking the resources that many big businesses have, to uncover a breach.
5. They’re serious. If it happens to you, take action and alert those involved. It’s important to let your customers and employees know what’s going on. Be transparent and be prepared to address any questions from affected individuals. All states require that businesses contact any individuals whose private, nonpublic information is exposed through a data breach. For trusted advice, read this guide to data breach response for business owners from the Federal Trade Commission.

The personal information of customers, employees and/or tenants entrusted to you is critical to the day-to-day functioning of your business. So, have you ever considered what would happen if this business data was lost, stolen or accidentally released?

Protect Your Business Data

Fortunately, there are ways to protect your business data. Here are just a few:

• Invest in sound security technology. This is a complex matter, and the level of security you need will vary depending on the nature of your business. Do some research or consult with an information security expert to learn the best options for your business. The right technology might not be cheap, but it will almost certainly cost less than losing sensitive business data.
• Educate employees. Teach your employees how to handle sensitive business data and train them to spot different types of social engineering fraud. You might also consider granting special access to sensitive business data on an as-needed basis.
• Update those passwords. Make sure you and your employees implement password best practices. This can include making passwords at least 16 characters in length, using random numbers, symbols and mixed-case letters and implementing two-factor authentication when able. And never keep  passwords on a sticky note by  laptops; invest in an online password manager.
• Practice data minimization. Reduce the amount of business data in your care by refraining from collecting information you don’t need, reducing the number of places you store your business data and safely purging any business data you no longer need.
• Monitor the whereabouts of your devices. Put a system in place that quickly lets you know if a device is missing. Also make sure to lock up any devices that aren’t being used.
• Properly dispose of business data. Shred sensitive documents and make sure to wipe clean the hard drives of any devices you no longer need.
• Hire the right people. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency encourages having a designated IT team – even if that team is just one or two people – to help protect the data at your company.
• Get cyber protection for your small business. With Cyber Suite from ERIE, you’re covered for losses arising from a host of cybercrimes, including data breaches, computer fraud and attacks, cyber extortion, misdirected payment fraud and telecommunications fraud. Cyber Suite also includes third-party liability coverages for privacy incident liability, network security liability and electronic media liability. And as an added bonus, you’ll have access to a team of cyber professionals experienced in handling these types of claims.

Protect your Small Business from Cyber Incidents

Protecting your business in the digital age is more complex than having the right locks on your doors and fresh batteries in your smoke detectors. It’s about protecting your data and data systems from threats and damage from cyber attacks and related legal action.

Gone are the days when phishing attempts were easy to identify and limited to only emails. While malicious messages are nothing new, they’re becoming more sophisticated and harder to pick out from legitimate business communications.  They are also coming at us through texts, social media chats and even phone calls.

A few simple actions with one of these messages can develop into a problem that spreads quickly across digital channels and devices, but there are things that you can do to defend against phishing attacks and resources that can help.

Vice President & Corporate Information Security Officer Jamie Neumaier knows a lot about tackling security threats. Jamie manages an information security team that works to ensure the people and systems at Erie Insurance stay as safe as possible. He answered questions about phishing scams targeting businesses and offered some useful security tips.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a malicious activity in which criminals try to gain access to user’s information, data or devices. The goal is to get you to act without taking a moment to think, and when you do, the phishers may:

• Gain access to data and information, which they can exploit.
• Install malware on your system.
• Prompt you to reveal your personal financial information for purposes of stealing money or your identity.
• Access your email and send other malicious messages to your contacts, to exploit others.

Are Businesses Especially Vulnerable to Phishing Scams?

Yes. With more work being conducted digitally, businesses of all sizes are susceptible to attacks. Attackers also assume that small businesses do not spend a lot of money or effort on their security measures, making them a potentially easier target.

Phishers can easily find your contact information online and are counting on employees to at least open the email because you’re in a business of being responsive.

Phishing messages have also grown in sophistication, so it’s easy to be convinced to visit a malicious website or download an infected file that comes in a message that looks legitimate.  If the “threat actor” happens to call, they can be very convincing in having you follow their detailed instructions in providing them your valuable information or installing their malware.

How do You Spot a Phishing Attack?

Phishing messages that are poorly written, offer you large amounts of money or ask you for financial assistance have been common for a long time. Most of us know not to open, click or respond to these messages. As mentioned above, phishing attempts aren’t limited to emails either. Hackers now use phone numbers like your mobile number to call you and attempt to have you reveal sensitive information. They may send you text messages as well.

More recently, phishing messages are being designed to look like other emails that you might receive. They may appear to be from someone you trust like a bank, friend, software provider, retailer or vendor, but usually, the timing of the messages is unexpected.

For instance, one common technique is for a hacker to gain access to an email account through a phishing attempt, then access the account and reply to a real email conversation with a malicious link. So, when the recipient receives this email, it looks like a continuation of an earlier conversation, but it asks the recipient to download a document or enter their credentials.

How Can Phishing Attacks be Prevented?

In the course of day-to-day business between you, your employees, customers, and other consumers in general, know what you’re working on. If you receive a message, phone call or email that is unexpected or seems even just a little bit off, verify the validity of the message before taking action. Call the person who appears to have the message and ask if he or she sent it. If the answer is no, it’s a malicious message.

Other Things You Can Do:

1. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) services on as many things as you can, such as your email.  If you happen to fall for one of the phishers’ tricks, having this additional layer of protection significantly helps reduce their chances of taking over your email or other targeted accounts.
2. Keep your software and devices up to date. The latest updates for Microsoft Office products, operating systems, third-party applications, such as Adobe Reader and smartphone operating systems, contain patches that protect against the latest security issues.
3. Hover your cursor over a link in an email to show the URL. If it looks suspicious, don’t click on it.
4. Use a modern endpoint protection software on your devices. They’re often provided by common and well-known security brands such as McAfee and Norton. Microsoft also offers endpoint protection for Windows and other applications.
5. Always back up your data, so that you can get back to business as quickly as possible should you fall victim to an attack. Test your backup processes periodically to ensure they are working as expected.
6. Educate your employees on good cybersecurity practices like how to identify phishing attempts and spam messages.
7. Look at the extension on Microsoft Word attachments. Most users have updated their Microsoft products so that Word documents end with .docx. If you see the antiquated .doc extension, question it.

Also, be aware that if you’re hit with an attack, you may not know immediately, and the first indication may be that your customers receive an unexpected message from you. Unfortunately, a customer calling to verify something you sent (but didn’t intend to) could be when you know you’ve been affected.

If customers call asking if a message is legitimate, and after you confirm whether you sent that email, offer them the same advice you use in your own business operations.

• Did the customer expect to get that email?
• Does the link or URL direct them to a legitimate, expected website address?
• Does it ask them to open a suspicious document that they didn’t expect?
• Does it threaten to disable access unless the user ID and password are given?

Answering those questions can help you both determine whether the message is safe.

Phishing is continuously changing and evolving as perpetrators adopt new techniques and forms, so it’s essential to have a good security plan in place and watch out for emerging attacks to help protect your business. A well-trained team that knows how to spot a suspicious message can also be a great defense against phishing attacks by enabling them to respond to an attack instead of just reacting with a quick action.

The Right Protection for Your Business

Contact a trusted insurance advisor like an ERIE agent to learn about some of the smart and affordable ways to protect your business.

When you think about purchasing a business policy, you probably think about the protection it provides for a fire, windstorm or burglary.

Insurance that covers the cost to repair a damaged building is one thing, but what about the other implications of temporarily closing? Could your business financially weather the storm without regular income from customers while you rebuild?

This is why business interruption coverage (sometimes called business income coverage or income protection coverage) is important.

Business interruption coverage provides peace of mind, giving you time to focus on rebuilding rather than worrying about financial ruin in the face of unexpected setbacks. You’ve worked hard to build and grow your business. We can help you keep it safe.

What is business interruption coverage?

Business interruption coverage compensates you for lost income if your business is temporarily closed due to a covered loss under your business policy. Your insurance policy would pay for the loss of income you would experience due to a partial or total interruption.

What does business interruption insurance cover?

Business interruption insurance covers the revenue your business would have earned (based on your financial records) had the loss not occurred and helps cover other expenses that don’t stop—like utility bills, payroll, taxes and rent.

What if I need to temporarily relocate my business?

Experiencing a business loss is stressful enough. But then there’s the added issue of temporarily relocating while you rebuild. That could mean additional costs, including:

• Relocation expenses (like moving trucks) for temporary space to work
• Costs to equip and operate the temporary location
• Overtime pay to employees in order to get the temporary location up and running

With business interruption and extra expense coverage, you can relax—your policy can pay for necessary extra expenses that it takes to help keep things running smoothly if you need to temporarily relocate your business due to a covered loss.